How to Write 猾 (huá) — Meaning “Sly; cunning”

Imagine a sly dog (犭) hiding behind a bone (骨) to trick you. The dog pretends to be friendly but is actually cunning, just like the character 猾 means 'sly' or 'cunning'.

Pay attention to the left radical 犭: the third stroke is a curved hook, and it should not be confused with 犬 (big dog) which has a dot. On the right, 骨 has a small 'mouth' shape at the top, then a vertical stroke, and a curved bottom part — make sure the strokes are balanced and not too wide.

猾 (huá) means 'sly' or 'cunning' and uses the dog radical. 狳 (yú) is a rare character referring to a kind of mythical animal or the pangolin (穿山甲), and 狴 (bì) refers to a legendary beast or a prison. 猾 is the only one with the common meaning of 'cunning' and appears in everyday words like 狡猾 (jiǎo huá).

猾 is almost always used in the fixed phrase 狡猾 (jiǎo huá), meaning 'cunning' or 'sly,' to describe people or animals. It also appears in the idiom 老奸巨猾 (lǎo jiān jù huá), which means 'an old fox' or someone extremely crafty. You won't see 猾 used alone — it is always paired with another character in modern Chinese.

Common words containing 猾 include: 狡猾 (jiǎo huá) — Cunning; sly; 老奸巨猾 (lǎo jiān jù huá) — Cunning and crafty; an old fox.; 狡猾的人 (jiǎo huá de rén) — A cunning person.